John Lewis Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 2015

Annual Report and Accounts 2015

John Lewis Partnership plc

57

COMMUNITIES REVIEW

Our Partners and customers are at the heart of our local communities. They help us understand and respond to community needs in the UK, through our giving and volunteering programmes.

Partners across the country share their skills with local charities, and this strengthens their relationship with their community, as well as opportunities to develop. Partner engagement and development is in our Constitution, and we think it’s a natural fit with our community investment.

Supporting communities at home and abroad

In 2014/15, we invested £13m, and volunteered more than 120,000 hours in the local communities where we operate, at home and overseas. We also supported elderly, isolated, young and unemployed people through a number of initiatives.

Overseas, we support our supplier communities through our Foundations. This work helps us find sustainable solutions to the challenges our suppliers face. Read more about this on page 66 for Waitrose and page 74 for John Lewis. We also provide emergency relief and address strategic issues specific to our sector by supporting national and international charities. For example in 2014 we made donations to the British Red Cross Disaster Fund and the Retail Trust.

As well as strengthening our current programmes, in 2014 we began reviewing these not only to ensure that we continue to make a difference where it is most needed, but also to ensure we are using our strengths to have the biggest positive impact. We will continue this work in 2015/16.

More information on our Partnership community investment can be found online at www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/ ourcommunities.

The Golden Jubilee Trust

We have a number of volunteering programmes across the Partnership. The Golden Jubilee Trust is our unique flagship Partnership volunteering programme. It gives Partners the opportunity to volunteer full or part-time with a UK-registered charity for up to six months, on full pay. We believe we are one of a very few businesses who have committed to give their employees the opportunity to have such a deep and lasting positive impact in the community. In 2014/15, the Trust helped 46 charities and donated a further 16,880 hours, making over 278,000 hours since its launch.

Wider economic contribution

One of the biggest positive economic impacts we have in the UK is the employment we offer. In 2014/15, we created 2,800 net new jobs. See page 11 to read more about the new shops and distribution centres we opened.

This also means we are able to make considerable tax contributions in the UK. Our Tax Code of Conduct is aimed at building trust in the communities in which we operate, by ensuring our tax obligations are met. In 2014/15, over £320m in taxes were borne by the Partnership and a further £685m collected. Based on our contributions the previous year, we ranked 20 out of 103 participants for total taxes borne in the PwC Total Tax Contribution survey for the 100 Group.

For more on the Golden Jubilee Trust: www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/ourcommunities

Volunteering hours

>120,000 11.1%

2014: >136,000

Partnership contribution to charities and community groups* %

74.8† 1

11.3 2.7 11.2 2 3 4 £9.75m £1.47m £0.35m £1.46m

1 Total value of cash contributions made to charities and community groups

2 Total value of time contributions made to charities and community groups

Last year we invested £13 million in the community – that’s 3.7% of our pre-tax profits.

3 Total value of in-kind contributions made to charities and community groups

4 Total value of management cost contributions made to charities and community groups

* As defined by the London Benchmarking Group model. †

This figure includes money raised through leverage. Assured by DNV GL

7 6 5 Principle 7

The Partnership aims to obey the spirit as well as the letter of the law and to contribute to the wellbeing of the communities where it operates.

1 4 2 3

Introduction

Partnership difference

Principles

Strategy

Performance

Governance

Financial statements

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